Job Description

Senior Data Architect (Space Data)

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We're partnering with a client running a space-related program where data architecture has become a limiting factor. They're integrating multiple mission-critical data sources (satellite systems, ground stations, downstream consumers) and need a senior architect who can own the data layer end-to-end: models, interfaces, lifecycle, security, and performance.


This is a build-and-own role. If your comfort zone is documentation and steering committees, this will feel sharp.

Location:

Thun (expect 80-100% onsite)

Workload:

100%

Contract:

Minimum 6 months (try & hire or permanent also possible)

Rate:

Please share your best all-in rate (and whether it's contract / try & hire / perm)

The Opportunity (Why This Exists)

The program is scaling in complexity and volume. Data sources are heterogeneous, the security bar is non-negotiable, and the architecture must hold up under growth, audit scrutiny, and operational pressure. They need a senior data architect who can create a coherent, scalable data environment that doesn't break under mission reality.

The Mission

You will deliver a data architecture that unifies space-related data sources into a reliable, governed environment; enables high-throughput processing and analytics without fragile, bespoke pipelines; enforces clear rules for data access, protection, and lifecycle; and scales without constant re-platforming or "temporary" shortcuts becoming permanent risk.


Success looks like fewer unknowns, fewer manual workarounds, and an architecture other engineering teams can safely build on.

What You'll Be Trusted With

You'll be trusted to make high-impact architectural calls and be accountable for the consequences. That includes designing and implementing the program-wide data architecture, building and maintaining data models and structures for large-volume datasets, integrating diverse sources (satellites, ground stations, other mission systems) and defining the interfaces that won't rot, and owning data lifecycle management: quality, lineage, retention, compliance, and security controls.


You'll also implement or harden processing and analytics pipelines with a Dev(Sec)Ops mindset, drive availability/performance/reliability and scalability with measurable outcomes, and collaborate with cross-functional architecture teams to align with system-wide requirements without becoming a dependency bottleneck.

Who This Is For (and Who It Isn't)

This is for you if you've personally owned data architecture decisions in environments where failure is expensive (operationally, reputationally, or security-wise), you can translate complex system constraints into implementable architecture and build critical parts yourself, and you've worked in space-related or similarly constrained domains where throughput, integrity, latency, and security trade-offs are real.


Do not apply if you mainly produce architecture decks that others implement, you treat security/compliance as "someone else's problem," your background is primarily product/marketing analytics with limited source integration and lifecycle control, or you need remote-first flexibility. This role expects you onsite in Thun most of the time.

The Environment & Standards

The program values correctness, traceability, and resilience over novelty. You'll operate with high autonomy: define the approach, align stakeholders, execute, and defend the architecture when challenged. Decisions must survive operational reality (availability/performance), security review (access control and misuse protection), and scaling pressure (more sources, more volume, more consumers).


If you need stable requirements and a pre-defined path, you'll find this uncomfortable.

Why Top Performers Pay Attention

You're not inheriting a finished platform--you're shaping the architectural foundation of a program where data is mission-critical. You'll work at the intersection of space systems, Dev(Sec)Ops, data engineering, and governance with real constraints and real consequences. Done well, your work removes years of downstream friction and operational risk.

Differentiation Requirement

This is not a safe enterprise data architecture role. The sources and interfaces are space-system-adjacent, reliability and security are inherent constraints, and you'll be expected to implement and harden the architecture--not just advise. Onsite execution in Thun is part of how the program moves quickly without distributed ambiguity.

Self-Selection Trigger

If "80-100% onsite + security clearance + space-related integration + end-to-end accountability" reads as restrictive, this won't be a fit. If it reads as clarity, high standards, and real ownership, you should take the conversation.